TRUCK FIRE – Firefighters knock down a fire in a Ford Explorer truck in Arrowhead Trailer Park in the 1200 block of Sawmill Creek Road Saturday evening. One person received fire-related injuries and was taken to the hospital, Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said, and the truck was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Warren said. The fire hall received the call about the fire at 5:33 p.m., and one fire engine with eight firefighters and an ambulance were dispatched, he said. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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Sitka Community Players Workin’ Musical 9 to 5

By TAMMY JUDD JENNY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Local thespians may not have been working all day on their next production, but they have been putting in lots of time evenings and weekends rehearsing for the upcoming “9 to 5: The Musical.”
    The satirical musical comedy is based on the 1980 film, which starred Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The play, featuring music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, was also on Broadway.
    Sotera Perez, director of the local production, said the stage show emphasizes more modern attitudes and values than the film, since the play was written some 30 years after the movie script. Other than a few adjustments to vocal parts, though, the group is performing the show exactly as written.
    The Greater Sitka Arts Council’s Sitka Community Theater will present “9 to 5: The Musical” on March 29-31 at the Performing Arts Center.
    In the film version, the three secretaries decide they’ve had enough of their bullying male chauvinist boss. After one of them misses out on an expected promotion, they begin to fantasize doing away with the tyrannical boss man. When one of them believes she accidentally poisoned her boss, the women wind up “detaining” him at his home while managing to successfully operate the department in his absence. But, how long can they keep him otherwise occupied?

Cast members Gus Cannizzaro, Soren Marius, Jack Petersen, Erin Fulton, Seaton Bryan, Zeke Blackwell and Brian Hullfish rehearse “One of the Boys,” for the production “9 to 5: The Musical.” (Photo Provided)

    The play is set in the late 1970s in a large company called Consolidated Industries. The boss, Franklin Hart Jr. (played by Christian Litten), is described as a “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.”
    “He makes life hell for the people that work at Consolidated,” Litten says.” “Hart is a fun character to play because he’s so awful. ... I get a lot of really funny lines in the show. My favorite part of the story is how the 3 main women characters finally take control from him and tie him up in his house,” he said.
    The three secretaries – Violet Newstead (played by Erin Fulton), is a “strong-willed longtime employee”; Judy Bernly (played by Rhiannon Guevin) is a “mousy divorcee,” who is new to the workforce; and Doralee Rhodes (played by Bailey Craig) is a “sexy, sassy Southern spitfire” who is often misunderstood by her coworkers. While the women are different, they all experience discrimination in their male-dominated work environment.
    Guevin describes her character Judy as being in her mid-30s, who’s entered the workforce for the first time. She was a housewife up to the point when her husband left her for his 19-year-old secretary. With their divorce, Judy is forced to find a job to support herself. In the beginning of the show Judy is naive and a bit unworldly. Through her friendship with the other secretaries, Judy blossoms into a strong, independent and confident woman.
    Perez said, “The biggest and most obvious change from the movie to the play is that ours is a full musical, with several additional songs written by Dolly Parton. Audiences will find it familiar, though, as the storyline is essentially the same.”
    Sitka Community Theater produces three shows during its season; this year The Radio Adventure Hour, Broadway Night and now their big production of “9 to 5.”
    The cast began a 10-week production schedule with their first readings in mid January. “The cast will see about 100 hours of rehearsal time by the time we go before an audience,” Perez said.
    There were many reasons she chose “9 to 5” for this year’s big production, Perez said.
    “First and foremost, I always go into selecting a piece with the understanding that it must fit our casting profile,” she said. “I have a good idea of our regular performers as well as who else may turn out, and I’m fairly familiar with their abilities and strengths.”
    She said she is also drawn to producing work that is written by and about women and which centers on women’s stories.
    “This satisfied that personal desire of mine perfectly, with the added benefit of directly addressing some current issues we’ve seen come to light recently. The real icing on the cake is that this year is the 40th anniversary of the film, and the musical is seeing a revival in London’s West End,” Perez said.
    Included in the 18-member cast are three actors who haven’t been in an SCT production before, Perez said.
    “I can safely say that by the time all is said and done, about two dozen other people will have contributed their time and skills to the show, including builders, props people and technicians,” she said.
    Guevin said this is her fifth community theater production in Sitka.
    “I started doing musical theater in Davis, California, when I was 7, and theater quickly became my life,” she said. She majored in vocal performance in college, and has now been involved in more than 60 productions over the course of her life.
    “It has been such a joy to discover such a fun and loving theater community in Sitka,” she said. “I’ve met some of my favorite people in Sitka through community theater.”
    Asked whether cast members had favorite parts or songs, Perez admitted she hadn’t asked them, but suspects it may be a fantasy sequence which “seems to bring out a lot of joy,” she said.
    The play is less music heavy than some familiar musicals, Perez said, estimating that speaking and music were about evenly split.
    “One of the marvelous things about this show is that it’s ultimately full of hope and self-discovery, and the music emphasizes that at every turn,” Perez said. “The first song to really catch my ear – and which convinced me that this was a show I wanted to do – was ‘Shine Like the Sun,’” she said. “I think it best states the themes I am trying to emphasize in the work.”
    As for Guevin, she really enjoys playing Judy because she’s such a fun and relate-able character.
    “I rarely get to play funny characters, so it has been really delightful to get to exercise my comedic muscles,” said Guevin. She said Judy learns so much and changes over the course of the show, which make her character “a fun arc to get to portray.”
    Guevin said she also loves getting to play off of Bailey (who plays Doralee) and Erin (who plays Violet) because they’re such fantastic actors.
    “The whole cast is incredible to work with,” she said.
    GSAC Community Theater will present “9 to 5: The Musical” at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 29-30, and 3 p.m. Sunday, March 31, at the PAC. Tickets are $15 general admission and $9 for students and seniors, available at Old Harbor Books and at the door. The show is rated as PG-13 due to language and mature subject matter.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Businesses using the Centennial Hall parking lot testified Tuesday against a proposal to charge them rent in addition to the $200 annual permit fee. City Administrator Hugh Bevan made the proposal in response to the Assembly’s direction to Centennial Hall manager Don Kluting to try to close the $340,000 gap between building revenues and operational costs.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President William S. Paul Sr. will be special guest and speaker at the local ANB, Alaska Native Sisterhood Founders Day program Monday at the ANB Hall.

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